The DESS found signs of affiliation of Koretsky Monastery with the Russian Orthodox Church and ordered it to cease its activities

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) has completed an investigation that revealed signs of affiliation of the Koretskyi Holy Trinity Women’s Stavropegial Monastery of the Moscow Patriarchate with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The activities of the ROC are prohibited in Ukraine under the Law of Ukraine «On Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations». Based on the findings, the DESS ordered measures to stop the activities of the monastery.

According to the State Service of Ukraine on Ethno-politics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), the study was launched on July 28, 2025 on the basis of DESS Order No. N-114/11 of July 24, 2025 and completed on October 17, 2025. Its results established a number of key indications of the monastery’s affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Among the identified facts confirming the affiliation are:

• Koretsky Monastery is a structural part of the Russian Orthodox Church.
• The statute of the monastery contains provisions on its subordination and incorporation into the structure of the ROC.
• The decisions of the governing bodies of the ROC clearly define the canonical and organizational dependence of the monastery.
• The ROC has the ability to influence the management decisions of the monastery.
• The ROC appoints the head of the monastery and approves its statutes.

Based on these findings, the DESS ordered that measures be taken to terminate the activities of Koretskyi Monastery because its governing center is located in the territory of the aggressor state and it belongs to the ROC, which is prohibited by law. According to the order, the Legal Support and Legal Analytics Department should ensure that all necessary procedures are carried out in accordance with the current legislation.

DESS emphasizes that this decision was taken solely within the framework of the current legislation of Ukraine in order to protect national security, constitutional order and religious freedom of citizens.

Recall, during the searches that took place in Koretsky monastery on June 25, 2025, investigators recommended that the nuns change their jurisdictional affiliation. Koretskyi Holy Trinity Stavropigial Nunnery is the only nunnery in Ukraine that is part of the Russian Orthodox Church and is directly subordinate to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.